A male iguana strikes a regal pose on a tree in Manuel Antonio while
he comtemplates, perhaps, how lucky he is to be an iguana and not a turkey
in this, the Thanksgiving season.

A.M. Costa Rica photo

THANKSGIVING: Time to consider what is and what is not
important

By the staff of A.M. Costa Rica

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States, and it is a good time for
English-speakers to reflect on what is important, what is not important
and for what we should give thanks.

As the first post-Sept. 11, 2001, Thanksgiving, it is appropriate that
we express our gratitude that more did not die as victims of terrorism
in the Western Hemisphere. Late word from New York City placed the Twin
Towers death toll at 3,900, considerably lower than had been thought.

We are thankful that we are not one of the 3,900 or among the death
toll in Washington. Or their close family members.

We are thankful that terrorists have not demonstrated their ability
with nuclear arms.

We are thankful that the Taliban are on the run in Afghanistan so that
this much ravaged land may have a chance to join the 21st century. And
we are thankful that the short siege means many more will receive western
aid and live to see the spring.

We are thankful that the bloody impact of terrorists did not touch Costa
Rica, for many of us our adopted homeland.

We are thankful that policymakers
and world leaders finally have identified terrorism, the mindless killing
of civilians to create terror, as something every civilized being should
oppose.

We are thankful that the United States and Russia have found common
ground.

We are thankful that Costa Rica has a democratic government that selects
its leaders through the electoral process, however flawed that taxi drivers
may tell us it is.

Closer to home, we are thankful for the home, particularly in light
of the homeless and the near-homeless we meet each day on the streets and
roads, young and old, male and female.

And we are thankful for family and friends and a winter without snow
tires. And the uncompromising love of our pets.

We are thankful for the juice of the pineapple, the brisk wind that
chases away the dark clouds and the scent of a chicken being roasted over
wood.

And we are thankful for the gift of reading and the self consciousness
to know we are alive and capable of giving thanks.

Police detain a woman in the case of the slain university
student

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Police have taken into custody a 27-year-old female suspect in the murder
of Shannon Martin.

Miss Martin died last May 13 when she was stabbed repeatedly outside
a bar in the southwestern town of Golfito. She was a soon-to-be graduated
University of Kansas biology student conducting research here.

The female suspect, who has the last name of Cruz, was detained in Golfito
Tuesday. She was detained at the request of the prosecutor there who sought
preventative detention while further investigations are conducted.

The key piece of evidence against the woman seems to be the sweatshirt
Miss Martin was supposed to be wearing the night of the murder. The suspect
is said to have confided to a female friend that the sweatshirt she was
wearing this weekend was the one she took from Miss Martin when she killed
her.

Autopsy reports says that Miss Martin suffered as many as 15 stab wounds
to the neck and stomach, and some were administered after she died.

Sources at the Organization of Judicial Investigation said that there
was other evidence implicating the suspect, but they did not elaborate.
Early in the investigation investigators said that a piece of cloth found
at the scene was evidence. The piece is believed to have been ripped from
the sweatshirt.

The arrest raises the possibility that the University of Kansas student
was murdered for her sweatshirt. The attack took place not far from the
popular Jurassic Bar nightspot and near the airstrip in Golfito. Police
have not suggested a motive.

At the time of the crime investigators were critical of the way police
failed to restrict access to the

crime scene. Investigators detained
some individuals immediately after the crime, but they were set free in
a short time. It is not known if the woman is one of those who had been
detained.

Investigators have not treated the arrest as a major development. The
news of the arrest came from Golfito. Officials of the Judicial Investigating
Organization in San José did not react with the usual press conference
that would be expected from a high-profile case.

Police also did not quickly notify the victimís family in the United
States. Reporters at the Lawrence, Kansas, Journal-World said they learned
of the arrest because they monitor a news Web site in Costa Rica.

There still remains the question of reward. Individuals in the
southwest area posted notices of a $10,000 reward months ago. That amounts
to 3,370,000 colons at the current exchange rate.

When the crime was being probed, investigators said that at least two
persons, perhaps sailors visiting the port town, had been involved. Presumably
they based their theory on the brutal way the murder took place.
The dead womanís mother, Jeanette Stauffer, who visited Costa Rica in August,
said that she believed that it took 10 minutes for the criminals to kill
her daughter.

The suspect was put into 10 days of custody during which she will not
be able to contact other persons, thereby raising the possibility
that investigators still are looking for other suspects.

Miss Martin returned to Costa Rica in May to conduct six days of additional
research for her senior year thesis. She was supposed to graduate
a few days after her death. She was staying with a host family in Golfito,
and the crime happened between the bar and the host family home.

Effort for horseshoe
pitchbegins for fans in Heredia

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

It is not exactly a groundswell yet, but some sports types near Heredia
are trying to put together a horseshoe association.

They hope that they will be able to develop a horseshoe pitch at a major
hotel, the Bougainvillea, in Santo Tomás de Santo Domingo de Heredia

"Horseshoes is a unique game," said Tom Jafek, one of the organizers.
"It can be played by young and old and rich and poor and males and females.It
is a great fresh air outdoor sport and it takes advantage of the wonderful
weather of Costa Rica. There are handicap systems, and competition abounds."

The group hopes to sponsor tournaments and international competitions
and eventually affiliate with the National Horse Shoe Pitching Association.
Other countries, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and Great
Britain, already have associations, said Jafek.

"We need your input and your interest to launch this project.," said
Jafek to potential players. "We are at ground zero, so we have every opportunity
to set it up right. Right now we want your contact information so we can
begin. Please call me at 244- 3408 or e-mail at lacarret@racsa.co.cr.
Give a little info on your skill level and if you want to help organize
or just be a player."

Gunmen die in heistat Pavas highway bank

Three gunmen tried to stick up the crew of an armored car about 8:40
a.m. Wednesday in front of the bank BanCrecen on the Pavas highway less
than a mile west of the west border of La Sabana Park.

Two robbers died and the third was wounded and captured after a car
chase to Uruca. Two bank employees also suffered wounds.

No money was believed taken in the attempted heist, but traffic on the
busy street was halted and rerouted through adjacent neighborhoods, thereby
creating traffic jams all morning.

Powell promises to workwith Nicaragua's Bolaños

By A.M. Costa Rica wire services

WASHINGTON ó U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States
will work with international financial institutions to promote investment
and economic growth in Nicaragua.

Secretary Powell made the remark Wednesday here following a meeting
with Nicaraguan President-elect Enrique Bolaños. Powell also said
international lending agencies need to help Nicaragua come through what
he called a "difficult period."

More than 70 percent of the Nicaraguan population lives in poverty,
and the country is plagued with a 44 percent unemployment rate. President-elect
Bolaños says his country needs to increase agricultural production
and investment to fight poverty. He also says his country is committed
to fighting terrorism, money laundering and narcotics trafficking.

Bolaños was making his first visit to the United States since
defeating former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in elections Nov. 4. The
United States strongly favored Bolaños over Ortega, who fought a
bitter campaign against U.S. backed Contra rebels in the 1980s. Bolaños
takes office in January.

In a related development, Secretary of State Powell repeated his support
for President Bush's nominee for a top State Department position. Powell
describes the nominee, Otto Reich, as an "honorable man" who should be
confirmed as the next assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric
affairs.

Reich headed the State Department's office of public diplomacy in the
mid-1980s. Some members of the U.S. Congress have questioned his activities
involving Nicaragua during the Reagan Administration. He has not been charged
with any crime.

Government and rebelsagree to open peace talks

The Colombian government and the country's second largest guerrilla
group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), have agreed to open formal peace
negotiations.

The government broke-off preliminary negotiations in early August.

Representatives of the government and the ELN agreed on resumption of
peace talks during two days of meetings in Cuba.

Colombia's government also is engaged in off-again, on-again peace talks
with the country's largest guerrilla band, the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC).

The Colombian civil war, involving all three irregular armed bands and
the government, has been going on for 37 years.

Meanwhile, Colombian and U.S. officials say 47 people have been arrested
in both countries in connection with a heroin smuggling ring that brought
millions of dollars' worth of the drug into the United States.

Colombian authorities say nearly half of the suspects were arrested
Tuesday during numerous raids throughout the Andean nation. Officials say
the narcotics operation smuggled about 50 kilograms of heroin per month
into the United States.

Authorities say the smugglers attempted to conceal the drug in their
clothing seams to transport it to the United States. Colombia is the world's
largest producer of cocaine, but heroin production is on the rise.

The United States is currently providing massive military aid to Colombian
President Andres Pastrana's anti-drug program known as "Plan Colombia."

In a related development, a judge in Colombian has ruled that the U.S.-backed
fumigation of drug crops can resume on land belonging to indigenous Indians.

Judge Gilberto Reyes had temporarily suspended the aerial fumigations
to give Indians time to back up their claim that spraying causes health
problems and hurts the environment.

The spraying of drug crops in Colombia is the main component of the
U.S.-backed war against drugs in the region.

The effort is aimed at reducing crops that produce cocaine and heroin,
and to deny income to leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries who
earn money through drug crops.

U.S.-Mexican pact facesdelays due to attacks

U.S. officials say an immigration agreement between the United States
and Mexico will be delayed due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Officials made the comment Tuesday following meetings with a visiting
Mexican delegation in Washington. The talks involved representatives from
the Departments of State, Labor and Justice.

Daschle says he expects Congress to pass immigration legislation as
early as the beginning of next year.

President Fox has pushed for an immigration accord that would grant
legal status to an estimated 3 million undocumented Mexicans in the United
States.

Bush agrees that some sort of legalization process short of an amnesty
is called for, given the contributions Mexican workers have made to the
U.S. economy. President Fox actively promoted his plan during a visit with
President Bush, which occurred just days before the Sept. 11 strikes.